Maximum Ride: Betrayed?
by NaMa6
Summary: Antarctica. Bottom of the world. Freezing Temperatures. My home. My name is Cari Kilm and this is my story. My adventure. My betrayal.
1. Introduction

**DISCLAIMER: I OBVIOUSLY DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE! Dialogue in **_**italics **_**is from The Final Warning, Chapter 40, and Pg. 137-138. All credits belong to James Patterson. **

**This is just a kind of… introductory chapter. Thanks! Hope you like it.**

**~NaMa6**

_Okay, I'm going to float out on a theory here, and maybe its crap, but I'm thinking that the complete absence of color had something to do with the blind kid suddenly being able to see stuff. _

'_Cause he really could. I waved my hand in front of his face, and he blinked and pulled away._

"_What are you __**doing**__?" he asked, frowning._

_I let my jaw drop open, looking from him to Fang and back, and then Iggy was smiling huge in a way he hardly ever does, and Fan was grinning in a way he hardly ever does, and I felt like skipping around like a ballerina, which, I promise you, I never, ever do._

"_What's going on?" Gazzy asked, coming over to us._

"_Iggy can __**see**__," I said, still unable to believe it._

_Excitedly, Iggy whirled to see the Gasman, and then stopped dead, frowning. He blinked several times._

"_It's… it's gone," he said in a hollow voice._

"_What?"_

"_You could see?" Gazzy asked._

_Iggy turned around again, his head hanging. He sighed heavily, then stiffened. "No! I can see again! I see the white mountains again!"_

_So here's the deal; Iggy could see __**whiteness. **__He could see the shapes of the cliffs and glaciers, the occasional gray rocks jutting out from the snow, the horizon line where the land met sky. When he turned around, the ocean, the rocky shore, everything, went blank._

"_I'm cold," I said after we'd been standing around looking at Iggy look at stuff for a while. "Let's go inside."_

_Lucir station consisted of about fifteen metal buildings raised up on steel stilts. Some of them were connected, like stepping stones, going up the nearest hill. A few stood alone. Most of them had snowcats and bobsleds and ice trucks parked underneath._

_We climbed the stairs, and once again Iggy had to rely on touching the hem of my jacket and concentrating on the sounds around him. I could feel him seething with disappointment._

_The door of the building opened into an air lock. We took off our jackets and stuff there, then went through another door into the actual station. _

When we walked inside, I was stunned at what I saw.

Another _kid_. With red hair. Oh, joy.


	2. Chapter 1

Max POV

"Maximum Ride. Welcome," said the girl, though her back was to me.

"Uh… Hi?" Master of words, thy name is Maximum Ride.

The girl turned, red-brown hair swishing over her shoulder, her glasses glinting, her two colored eyes- wait. Two colored eyes? I looked again. Yep, one black, one a soft brown. What did they call that? Heto- Heteo- Ah, forget it.

"Come in. Introduce yourselves, then I'll introduce my self."

She was ordering me. _She _was ordering _me. _What really got me is that I obeyed her. Really.

I walked inside the room, followed by the rest of the flock, and introduced us.

"I'm Max. _Just_ Max. This is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, Angel, and Total."

"Total?" The girl looked at said dog curiously. "Cool name."

I think Total began to _literally_ glow, which _wouldn't_ be that surprising.

"She didn't say "He's just a dog"! I like her already!" Total yipped happily.

The girl giggled and smiled for the first time since we got here. "I'm glad, Total. Now, Max, right? Just Max? Alright. So Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel. Welcome to Antarctica. I am the youngest, till now, member at thirteen. I have been here for 3 years. My name is Cari Kilm. Just Cari is fine."

I saw a mischievous smile spread across Gazzy's face.

"Cari, hm?" he said. "Can we relax in here? We're wound up pretty tight today."

"Of course. Be my guest," Cari replied.

Gazzy slipped off his jacket and spread his wings. I looked at Cari and waited for her reaction.


	3. Chapter 2

**Yeah, I know, I know. Short chapter. REALLY SHORT. The next one will be longer, I** **promise!**

**~NaMa6!**

But it never came. She just stared at Gazzy like he was any ordinary person.

"Breathtaking show you've put on, but I am very hard to surprise."

Bummer. Dang it. Words-I-can't-say-because-they-are-mean-and-Angel-might-be-reading-my-mind.

"Especially since I'm like you all." Then, she slipped off her jacket and extended _her wings_.

Yeowza. Now _we're_ the surprised ones.


	4. Chapter 3

**If you didn't figure it out already, this and the last two chapters are in Max's Point Of View. They will be in Max's POV until the beginning of a new coming chapter will say "Cari POV". Got it? Good.**

**~NaMa6**

"You're… Like us?" Iggy asked. Psh, yeah, blind dude. "Like, the wings?" I guess he had felt Gazzy's wings brush his arm.

Cari brushed the tips of her wings toward Iggy, who felt the feathers.

"Bright… red?"

"Like a cardinal's," Cari said proudly, though she looked a bit puzzled at how he could know that.

"It's because he can see colors, Cari. It's a special power of his," Angel blurted, granting a glare from yours truly.

"Eh?" Cari looked a bit taken a back. "How did you…?"

"I can read minds," Angel gushed. "And control people, breath under water, talk to fish…"

I stared at Angel with a "Why-did-you-tell-her-that?" look. Angel just shrugged.

_I think we can trust her,_ Angel said in my head.

_What makes you so sure? _I thought back.

She shrugged again.

"Wow… I thought I would be the only mutant to have special powers!"

"You have powers, too?" Fang asked as nonchalantly as he could, though I could tell he was interested in her. His eyes were glued to her. Ugh. Him and his red-head fetish.

Anyway, Cari nodded. "Yes. Healing and combustion."

"Combustion?" Gazzy glowed. "You mean?"

"Blowing things up? Yes," Cari answered back, grinning at my little pyro's enthusiasm. "See?"

And to prove her point, Miss Awesome blew up a water bottle sitting on the table and snapped out her wings to stop the water from hitting us all.

"Awesome…" the Gasman whispered in awe.


	5. Chapter 4

**WOOT. This story is really starting to get somewhere now, huh? : 3**

**Reviews are much appreciated. **

**~NaMa6**

Well. Miss Awesome is even more awesome. She can heal practically any wound and blow anything up. Even freaking _titanium_.

Fang watched her every movement, but Cari only glanced at him.

She was too busy with my two favorite pyromaniacs.

Iggy seemed to cling onto her every word. She, Gazzy, and Iggy were talking animatedly about all things atomic and nuclear.

Oh, great, they found a new pyro friend.

Then, when Gazzy and Iggy were off in La-La Land, she started talking to Nudge and Angel. All I heard was fashion and frills spilling from their mouths.

Now, she was Miss Awesomely _Perfect_. Just _great_.

Before I knew it, she had wheedled her way into the hearts of my flock and into the flock itself.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey-yo, good people! Another chapter in Maximum Ride: Betrayed? A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO The Timeless Clock FOR THE REVIEWS! They made me happy. **** Anyone else read this story? Anyone? … ANYONE? If you like it, please review! Please? It would make my day…**

**Thanksies! **

**CARI POV**

I watched the flock from a distance, watching their every move carefully.

Sigh. What a boring job. "Monitor the bird-kids", he says. How about you try it once, huh, boss?

I flicked some imaginary dust from my shoulder, eager to get this over with. As I did, from the corner of my eye, I noticed Angel sliding down the slope, her brother following after.

He had misjudged his distance and crashed into two penguins, one falling on the poor kid.

He was just too cute.

I watched, intrigued, as Brian and Sue-Ann snow-shoed up to the flock.

A sudden movement caught my eye, below the ice level. A large shape was moving. I was about to call out a warning to be careful when all heck broke loose.

The shape jumped out from the ice, and grabbed Sue-Ann by the leg. It plunged back into the water, Sue-Ann still clamped tightly in his jaws, dragging her into the cold, dark depths of the arctic.

I couldn't breath.

That was NOT supposed to happen.

_Uh-oh_.


	7. Chapter 6

**Please review? Please?**

**~NaMa6**

"Leopard seal!" Brian yelled, his voice booming out over the desolate miles of ice. It even resounded past me, probably to the other side of the clearing.

My eyes were narrowed as I watched the under-layer of ice turn red.

Boss will be so un-pleased when he hears of Sue-Ann's disconnection.

_Sigh_.

Chaos was roaring in my ears as Maximu- Max and Fang pulled Sue-Ann, soaked and bleeding, out of the water.

It was no use.

Sue-Ann was already gone.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello, people of this Earth! Who has bought ANGEL yet? I HAVE! It took me a day to read it. Just a day. READING~ Who thinks it awesome? Meeee~ XD On to the story!**

**~NaMA6**

Max POV

Cari.

What the heck is her problem? Sue-Ann was being freaking attacked by a leopard seal and she was just standing there?

Not only that, she had this _Sigh, this is disappointing, I expected more from you_ look on her face as Fang and I flew to get Sue-Ann to safety.

Disappointed? Why would she be disappointed in Sue-Ann? Because she got attacked? It wasn't her fault!

It all became clear when I heard the words "traitor among us" fall from Paul's lips.

Sue-Ann was a dead traitor. And Cari could not be trusted.


	9. Chapter 8

**Woot, chapter eight! This is – So far – my longest-running series ever! I also write on (username: cgee) and (username: NaMa6)!**

**Thanks to ****The Timeless Clock****, ****KuranHime'sBFF****, and ****THE mongoose**** for reviewing! And, I'll try to make the chapters longer, everyone. ^^;**

**~NaMa6**

Max POV

"Flock, attention, please!" I called. Fang's dark eyes turned toward me, tearing away from where he was typing away for his blog. Angel and Nudge stopped talking. Gazzy and Iggy stopped playing poker with the cards Cari gave them.

Speaking of the cards, I picked one up and showed it to everyone.

"The Ace of Hearts? What's with that Max?" Gazzy asked.

"This card is our new friend, Cari, ok?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. I don't think we should trust her. This card is who she is. She's an ace for a whole different game and she's wheedled her way into all of your hearts."

Not surprisingly, Nudge spoke.

"But, Max! Cari's really nice and cool! She one of the few people I can talk to about girly stuuuuuuuff…!"

"Same here!" Angel, my now so distant Angel, was defending the accused. "Besides, I can't pick up any bad things going on in her head! She really cares about us! She thinks Nudge is really smart for her age, that Gazzy is a diabolically adorable genius, that I'm smarter than I let on, that Fang is a bit reserved but he's a good person, that you, Max, are really smart and tactical and you are a really good person despite your attitude, and that Iggy's really smart and cute!

Gazzy cackled and hit a blushing Iggy on the shoulder.

"Those thoughts are word-for-word from her head! No lie! _We can trust her_!"

I sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. We can trust her. _For now_. She puts even a _toe_ over the line, she's marked as Undesirable #1, ok? Ok."

Everyone – minus Fang, who just grinned – cheered.

They must really like her.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter getting longer! Yay!**

**~NaMa6**

Cari POV

Max the smart aleck. Every time Brigid spoke of a danger in the, she would give a prissy reply.

Jealous, much?

Does she know how hard it is to _get out_ of a crevice, much less _fly out_?

_No._

Well, it's _dang hard_.

I would know.

Don't ask.

As they set out on their _Great Outdoors of Freezing Temperatures Excursion_, I stayed behind with Brian.

"Have fun!" I shouted as they set off.

I sat in the flock's room, looking at their computer.

Creeper, right?

_Wrong_.

Fang said there was a some sort of virus on it before he left. I'm good with computers so I said I could help.

When the virus was cleared, something caught my eye.

"Fang's blog?" I murmured, clicked on it, and skimmed through the latest entry.

Dog crates, ambition, Bill Nye, Muppets, evil scientists, good scientists, Brigid, Brigid, Brigid…

Obsessed, much?

The last paragraph caught my eye.

It read:

_And __woah__. New friends in Antarctica time!_

_Melanie, Bryan, Paul… Did I mention the avian-human, Cari? No? well, yeah. Cardinal red wings, 2 colored eyes, glasses, cute. 5 feet 7 inches of awesome._

_Max doesn't seem to trust her. No surprises there!_

_She's really sweet._

_Whoa. Did I really just type that? I'm turning soft. Great._

_She seems to have a thing for Iggy. __Iggy__. My blind, pyro chef. She gets along with everyone. Total adores her. Fun!_

_Fly on._

_-Fang_

"Woah…" I noticed three of the comments mentioned me.

_NekoChan from New York writes:_

_Woah! That's so cool! A new bird friend! Jealous!_

_MrMystery from Canada writes:_

_Cari? Cool name! Sounds familiar… Good luck, flock!_

_Pretty Miss from Australia writes:_

_A new avian-human? That's so cool! _

MrMystery? Canada? I just might know him! How weird!

So, Fang's been writing a blog about the flock's shenanigans? That could prove useful in the near future…


	11. Chapter 10

Cari POV

Sitting on the roof, I listen to Max and Fang's lover's quarrel. Snore.

Footsteps.

They sounded like…

"I can't find Angel anywhere," Gasman said, worriedly.

He couldn't find Angel? Hadn't she gone out with Total and Akila an hour ago?

I untied and retied my snow boots, making them extra tight. I pulled in my wings against my back. I walked to the airlock entrance, preparing to see Max and Fang.

I did. But they nearly launched me over the railing.

"Max! Fang! Wait!"

That's when she took off. Ignoring me.

Witch. High-headed. Stubborn. Must I go on?

Being the nice person I am, I followed.

Max POV

"Max, slow down!" Cari shouted.

"Don't try to stop me, Cari!"

Swooping down below me, and darting back up, she cut me off.

"I want to go with you. I want to help."

I stared at her, silent.

"Fine."

"But, be warned, Maximum Ride. The dangers of the Antarctic are scarier than you know…"

She pulled in her wings slightly and dropped down. Swooping over the Antarctic terrain, looking for Angel, she looked like a hawk swooping over the desert, looking for food.

'Scarier than you know…"

Her words stuck in my head like a stamp to a letter.

I had a feeling she knew something I didn't.

What could it be?


	12. Chapter 11

**Woot, three chapters in one day! Yay for me! A peek into Cari's past reveals a dark past…**

**~NaMa6**

Cari POV

Flying in high winds is something I prefer _not_ to do.

I can do it.

I just prefer not to.

Now, flying in high winds, low temperatures, and in a forming blizzard is pure suicidal.

…

I guess Max, Fang, and are pretty suicidal.

Erk.

Being this high, looking out over the Antarctic tundra, with its blend of all colors into white, makes me feel how very small I am.

Kind of depressing, actually.

Casting a second glance made something appear in my memory, buried deep, deep in my subconscious.

-_-Flashback-_-

_Blackness._

_Complete and utter blackness._

_Even the inside of my head was "black"._

_But…_

_What is "blackness"?_

_The total and complete lack anything?_

_Or just "nothing"?_

_As these thoughts plagued my adolescent mind, a door opened. As per usual, no light came from the other side of the door. _

"_Experiment 657."_

_That same cold voice._

_Unfeeling to my pain._

_My cell door closed and I stood, staring through the darkness, arms and wings spread. _

_Peach-fuzz covered wings._

"_Only five, yet you have come far, 657. I'm proud."_

_Your voice gives away your displeasure. _

"_You've come far."_

_Did I do something wrong?_

"_You have exceeded my expectations."_

_Am I not perfect?_

"_You are going to be great."_

_Stupid…_

_Stupid…_

_Stupid._

_Stupid._

_Stupid!_

…

_Why do you hate me, daddy?_

_-_-Flashback END-_-_

My eyes shot open to reveal a conversing Max and Fang.

Wait.

How long had we been flying?

I looked at my watch.

Fifteen minutes had passed since I blacked out.

Did I keep flying?

Weird.

We all landed near a huddle of penguins.

No Akila.

No Total.

No Angel.

Max moved forward and almost fell into a hidden crevice, if not for Fang being Mister Reflexes.

A small whimper and cry of "Help" kicked my reflexes into overdrive.

"Angel!" Max yelled.

'She's in the crevice? Oh, crap!' I thought.

Sending her calming thoughts, I watched as Fang and Max pulled up Total, then Akila, and then, finally, Angel.

Slinking back, I disappeared into the whiteness of the blizzard.


	13. Chapter 12

**WOOT, LONGEST RUNNING STORY EVAR. I'm so happy. ; w ;**

**~NaMa6**

Angel POV

'_Be safe…_'

Cari. That's Cari's voice.

'_Forgive me…_'

"NO!"

"Angel, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Cari! Max, Where's Cari?"

I looked around frantically, Max and Fang following suit, but to no avail.

"She was just here!" Max shouted over the howling wind.

"I know!" Fang hollered back.

Max, being Max, took the initiative.

"She'll be fine. She knows this place. Unfortunately, we don't. We need to find shelter."

"_And fast_," she added in her head.

-_-Time skip to the holding chamber, with the flock. Chapter 63 in the book-_-

Max POV

Once Nudge failed in trying to open the door, I heard some shouting from out the door.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU HURT HER ARM? YOU WERE SECIFICALLY TOLD NOT TO HURT ANY OF THEM! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OVER THE LINE, I WILL HAVE YOU DISMISSED! PERMANANTLY, GOZEN!"

Woah.

Temper, much?

Definitely a girl.

A girl with anger issues.

The door banged open an shut and a girl dressed in black with a mask stormed in.

With a gun.

All the flock were on alert.

She pointed the gun at all six of us, as if daring us to move.

We didn't.

She spun on her heel and shot down a guard, who crumpled to the floor, blood oozing from a bullet hole in his chest.

That guard…

Wasn't that the one that shot a hole in Gasman's shoe?

"Attention to all!" barked out the girl.

The guards got over the initial shock of their dead comrade at the resounding quality of the girls voice and stiffened.

"Anyone of you harms these kids and, I _swear_, I will kill you and use your corpse as target practice," she snarled, spitting out the words like venom.

"Yes, Miss Cari," the soldiers saluted.

Wait.

_Cari?_

The girl turned toward us, slipping the mask from her face.

"Hey, y'all," Cari said, smiling. "What's up?"


	14. Chapter 13

**Ok, excuse my weird POVs, I'm experimenting with them. Heehee. ^^; And Faulte belongs to SayakaKirishima on . Look her up to learn more about Faulte!**

**~NaMa6**

THIRD PERSON POV

Max and the other members of the flock stared, dumbfounded, at Cari.

Cari just stood there, smiling, the gun at her side.

Max finally found the words to speak.

"You murderer!" Max shouted.

Cari raised a brow and inquired, "Your point?"

Max's eyes narrowed. "You just killed a man! Don't you feel any shame? Remorse? Dirty? Tainted? Anything?"

"Yeah, I feel bad 'cause my last bullet was _wasted on a mere pawn_."

"Cari, why?" Angel cried.

"Because it is my duty, Angel. I killed my first "prey" when I was six. I killed the real Sue-Ann. The one you knew was an android implanted in her skin. I've killed countless other people I didn't even know, nor even heard of. I am a born and raised assassin. The Cari you know is a lighter copy of the real one. The real Cari… Is wicked, through and through. I am the real Cari Kilm."

And, with that, Cari slipped off the black leather jacket and spread peach-fuzz covered wings.

"I, Cari Kilm, am the only living bat recombinant DNA experiment."

MAX POV

I swear I almost fainted right then and there.

_Bat DNA?_

That explains how she has killer hearing and a biting voice that can practically freeze and eye sight as bad as – well – a bat.

"You murderous liar…!" I sneered.

"I do what I do to live – No – to survive. It's not my fault I'm the best in the biz."

"I take that into offense, Cari, darling," said a male voice from the door.

Cari spun around and grinned. "Faulte, you finally show your face."

The guy named Faulte grinned. "And you finally show them your true colors, you crafty little liars." I noted the slight British accent he had. It wasn't thick, but it was just a hint and it was still there.

"You flatter me, Faulte, but I'm not done yet."

"Um, excuse me," I cut in and they turned toward me. "Thank you for noticing the _poor prisoner_. I have a few questions. You had red BIRD wings the last time I saw you. Now you have red-brown BAT wings. How did that happen?"

"Illusion," Faulte and Cari replied at the same time.

"Eh?" was the genius reply I had.

"Illusion," Cari said in a listen-up-'cause-I-won't-say-this-again tone. "My power. I can't make things explode or heal anything. Remember that water bottle trick when we first met? Illusion. You think I could block all that water from hitting you with just my wings? Pbft! You all would have at least felt spray, if nothing else!"

Her tone had changed. She was speaking to me as though I was five. I flushed in embarrassment and anger. I should've known better. It wasn't just the other members of the flock who were fooled. This girl was good.

"Wait," Angel murmured, brows knitted together. "How come I only got good thoughts from you? I never heard anything about… this." Angel gestured around.

"Illusion again. What you read in my mind were real thoughts. But they were only a quarter of them. You see, using my powers, I can have two trains of thought going on at the same time. One is the good, the other is bad. The good thoughts are the one's you read. The bad ones are the secrets kept deep in my black heart." With every 'ck', 't', 'p', 'b', and 's' she enunciated with such force, Angel flinched.

I was in a daze.

_This couldn't be happening._


	15. Chapter 14

**Longest story EVAR! … Still! Yay! Review? Please?**

**~NaMa6**

Max POV

"You should be glad you couldn't see inside my real head…" Cari muttered.

"Why?" Gazzy inquired. "You think she can't handle it?"

"Yes, I don't think she can.. I admit, she's a strong girl. But not that strong. None of you are. None of you can even imagine the things I have been through. You think dog crates were bad?" She snorted. "Eraser training? Experiments? The pain? The un-knowing?" She glared at all of us, and I swear, she aged 60 years in 60 seconds. "You have no idea. That's just child's play."

That's when Iggy snapped.

"I'm freaking BLIND! How is that child's play?"

"I'm color blind. I have no feeling behind my left ear. If you tear out all my hear, I won't feel it. If-"

Faulte put a hand on Cari's shoulder, stopping her tirade, and showing…

Were those _talons_?

Talk about being confuzzled.

"Cari." Faulte's voice cut through her anger like a hot knife through butter.

Breathing heavily, Cari's anger subsided and she calmed.

She looked straight at me and I gulped at the look in her eyes.

It looked like she was going to kill me.

That was when Angel screamed.

Huddled by Nudge, Angel stared with wide, horrified eyes at where I was.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Her eyes flicked to Cari.

"Showed you how real my illusion can be, Ange."

"Bring it BACK! BRING REALITY BACK!" Angel shrieked.

Cari blinked twice and Angel's tense body relaxed.

I was on my feet in a second.

Cari was knocked to the ground with my hands around her neck in a _millisecond_.

The soldiers stepped forward, their guns on yours truly.

I was livid. Red pumped before my eyes. Blood coursed quickly to my veins. Air was quickly entering and exiting my lungs.

Cari had a "you-are-an-idiot" look on her face. She waved down the soldiers with her hand.

"Get off, Max."

"No."

"Get off and you won't get hurt."

"I don't care!"

"Fine. You leave me with no choice."

She snapped her fingers and a tense Faulte rushed forward and pulled me off of Cari. Roughly. Jerk.

Helping Cari up, he muttered, "Always pushing people's buttons… Getting yourself in trouble…"

"That's why I have you, Faulte…~"

"Oh, ha. You are soooo funny."

Wait.

The atmosphere between these two…

Could it be…?

"Are you two dating?" I blurted without thinking.

"Yeah," Cari and Faulte replied bluntly, in unison.

_Woah Woah Wait Woah._

"Faulte, how old are you?"

He had to be older than her. _Older_.

Faulte thought for a second.

"Almost 20, right, Car?"

"Yeah, just about."

Great. Just _perfect_.


	16. Chapter 15

**Ok, ok, EXTRA! EXTRA! Time for a little change. I'm going to change Cari's age. She's now 16, not thirteen. Though, when she was pretending to work in Antarctica, she made herself look thirteen so she could at least get closer to them, by being close to her age. That's pretty much it… **

**Thank you for reading, everyone! I really appreciate it! A special 'Thank You' goes out to those who have reviewed! THANK YOU!**

**~NaMa6**

_**Maximum Ride: Betrayed? Final Chapter**_

_Cari POV_

This is great, everything going to plan. They hate me and it's delicious. The hate on their faces, as I walked out of the room, was true and blissful to my eyes. It was good to be hated again.

"You are so devious," Faulte said, shutting the door behind us.

"Yes," I mused. "Yes I am."

I smiled as he put his arm around my waist and kissed my temple.

"Are we ever going to see them again?" he whispered in my ear.

"Hopefully, we'll be gone by the time this hunk of metal lands," I said, my face grim.

"Yeah… I guess we will. Where will we go, Cari? After we escape our contract?" Faulte asked, his browed furrowed.

I though about it. After a few minutes, I said, "I've always wanted to live in Paris…"

A smile spread across our lips and Faulte nodded.

"Paris sounds… Quite wonderful," Faulte said, his accent creeping out more than ever. "It will be good to be back in Europe."

"Better than Antarctica," I joked. "My wings were going to freeze off!"

Faulte smiled. "Yeah," he said. "Is it time?"

I looked at my watch and said, "Yes. It's time for a little 'fiasco', don't you think?"

A mischievous smile spread across Faulte lips and I knew he was planning the same thing I was.

_~Time skip – 3 hours~_

_Max POV_

"ALERT. ALERT. EMERGENCY SEALED DOOR OPENED. ALERT. ALERT. STRAP DOWN. ALERT," screamed a voice from over the loud speaker. I wanted to throw something at it because it woke me up, but realized I didn't have anything to throw.

Every single guard was pushed back against the wall and an ominous sucking sound was coming from somewhere down.

"EMERGENCY. TWO PASSENGERS DOWN. TWO PASSENGERS DOWN."

Two passengers down? Someone is off this hunk of metal?

5 minutes passed from the time the alarm sounded and a metallic voice sounded over the loud speaker, softer, this time.

"Two passengers un-accounted for. Two passengers lost. Repeat, two passengers lost. Cari Kilm and Faulte Faukins. I repeat, two passengers lost," the solemn voice said, then blipped out.

"They're gone?" Angel cried out, surprise etched on her face.

"Seems so," Iggy said, unseeing eyes looking a bit to the left of the loud speaker.

"No, their not," I said, my voice hard.

"What?" everyone, but Fang, chimed.

"Their like us. Hybrids. Technologically advanced beings. Recombinant life-forms. They're alive. Somewhere."

Glaring up at the loud speaker I could almost hear Cari and Faulte laughing.

Free. They were free. Something I had always wanted to be. Their laughter rang clear in my head. It wasn't taunting. It wasn't teasing. It was happy. They were happy.

_**~Maximum Ride: Betrayed? – END~**_


End file.
